Whangarei Schools win Torpedo7 Get2Go Finals

Whangarei Schools win Torpedo7 Get2Go Finals at Hillary Outdoors Great Barrier Island

Ninety six adventurous secondary school students were excited to take part in the Torpedo7 Get2Go Final on Great Barrier Island last week - organised and hosted by outdoor education specialists, Hillary Outdoors. An eight-strong mixed gender team from Whangarei Girls’ and Boys’ High Schools took home the winners’ trophy as they battled other schools in a range of fun but testing challenges; including orienteering, kayaking, rock climbing and mountain biking.

The Get2Go Junior is now in its 12th year, involving students in years 9 and 10 (mainly 14-15 year olds) who defy the reputation of inactive teenagers being glued to devices all day; they are totally ‘out there’ and up for the outdoor activities that challenge both mind and body. The twelve participating teams had won their hard-earned places in the Final by qualifying in regional events held across both North and South Islands throughout August and September. Event Manager Darren Ashmore explains the action as “a mixture of the Amazing Race, Survivor and Treasure Island.”

The Get2Go is widely recognised as the country’s premier outdoor adventure title for this age group, so the competitors take it very seriously. “The special moments come when the students overcome not only the competition, but their own perceptions of their limits,” says Darren. He further explains that the students need to look inside themselves to draw on new levels of determination and resilience as they work with their strengths in teamwork, leadership, problem solving and physical activity outdoors. “When they are putting in their maximum efforts you can see it on their faces – those expressions of drive and pride are priceless”, he says.

Torpedo7 Marketing and Sponsorship Executive, Ben Davies says it’s great to see more young people experiencing the outdoors. “The Torpedo7 brand is all about getting out there and giving it a go and these events are a great way of encouraging more young people to get active, have fun and challenge themselves. We’re thrilled to partner with Hillary Outdoors and be a part of this well-established and highly regarded events programme.”

This is the first time that Torpedo7 has been involved in the capacity as official sponsor of the Hillary Outdoors Events Programme. Hillary Outdoors and Torpedo7 recently announced that their partnership, established in 2015, has expanded to include the sponsorship of the Events programme, incorporating both the Get2Go and the Hillary Challenge Series and Finals. These highly popular Events involve over 2500 secondary school students in multi-sport challenges each year.

“The Get2Go is a phenomenal opportunity for our young people to experience challenge, and overcome adversity in a safe and controlled environment that sets them up for real life interactions and decision making. The support from their team mates and other competitors is something that all of the team cherishes, building life-long friendships in the process. This event builds resilience, respect and compassion in the middle of some of New Zealand’s most rugged, yet spectacular terrain. A fulfilling and life changing experience, we are ecstatic to win this national event,” comments Callum Harris, Team Manager for the combined team from Whangarei Girls’ and Boys’ High Schools.

Events Manager Darren comments on what Torpedo7’s sponsorship of the Events Programmes means to the charitable trust…”With support from Torpedo7, Hillary Outdoors will be able to grow these event programmes even further. By involving more young people we will be helping develop healthy attitudes about taking part, keeping active, being outdoors and working well with others, whilst gaining some great skills and having fun along the way. The scale of these Events is of mutual benefit to Torpedo7 who will have strong brand presence amongst an audience leading active and outdoorsy lifestyles – many participants in the Hillary Outdoors Events go on to become elite multi-sport or adventure racing athletes. We are delighted that our partnership has progressed further as a result of the natural synergies between our organisations.”

ENDS

About Torpedo7

Torpedo7 is a nationwide outdoor adventure retailer and comprises of 13 stores in New Zealand, and Ecommerce Websites in New Zealand and Australia. It is part of The Warehouse Group which comprises of a number of companies with a combined turnover of $2.8 billion in FY15 employing over 12,000 people.

About Hillary Outdoors

Established in 1972 by Graeme Dingle with Sir Edmund Hillary as patron, Hillary Outdoors was originally named the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre of New Zealand, (or commonly known as OPC). In 2014 the charitable trust was re-named to emphasise the education focus of its outdoor programmes as well as pay tribute to the organisation’s former patron. Over 40 years on, Hillary Outdoors continues with the same aims of delivering New Zealanders the opportunity to go beyond the confines of the classroom, meeting room and boardroom to experience the outdoors in order to develop care and respect of self, others and place.

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